Jeff Standley

Senior Lecturer

Email:: Jeff.standley@bcu.ac.uk

Jeff is a senior lecturer and philosopher of education who has worked in the education sector for 28 years, teaching and mentoring students of varied ages and diverse backgrounds. His career has spanned each stage of the education system in Birmingham, including 5 years working in early years, 8 years as a Learning Mentor in primary schools (including 2 years working with secondary school children at risk of offending), and 15 years in higher education.

When working in practice he predominantly supported children who were experiencing barriers to learning and worked with them and their families to help remove these barriers to facilitate children’s flourishing. Within higher education he specialises in teaching modules concerning philosophy of education, education policy, and research and academic skills. He has published several journal articles and presented at multiple international conferences both home and abroad. He specialises in the ethics of belief in education, exploring varied topics concerning how education shapes, challenges and responds to student belief, and the ethical implications of this.

Areas of Expertise

Qualifications

Memberships

Teaching

Research

Publications

Published Articles

Standley, J. (2025) ‘On the Special Epistemic Obligations of the Educator’, Educational Theory. 75(2), pp. 208-226. https://doi.org/10.1111/edth.70007
Standley, J. (2022) ‘Lessons in Love: Countering Student Belief in Romantic Love Myths’, Journal of Philosophy of Education, 56(5), pp. 739-751. doi: 10.1111/1467-9752.12687
Standley, J. (2020) Should teachers engage in the Santa conspiracy? TES, 11 Dec 2020, pp. 14-17.
Standley, J. (2020) ‘The Santa Claus deception: The ethics of educator involvement’, Theory and Research in Education, 18(2), pp. 174–190. doi: 10.1177/1477878520947042.
Standley, J. (2019) ‘The Ethics of Belief in Student Ability’, Journal of Philosophy of Education, 53(1), pp. 61–76. doi: 10.1111/1467-9752.12311.

Peer-reviewed Conference Papers

On the Epistemic Obligations of the Educator – Educating Responsible Believers Conference, University of Birmingham (26 Mar 2024)
Lessons in Love: Countering Student Belief in Romantic Love Myths in the RSE Curriculum – ESRC Workshop on Philosophy and the School Curriculum, University of Birmingham (4 July 2022)
The Santa Claus Deception – Centre for Research & Policy Analysis, Liverpool Hope (4 Nov 2020)
Ethics of Educator Involvement in the Santa Deception – North American Association for Philosophy and Education Annual Conference, University of the Lake, Mundelein, Illinois (25–27 Oct 2019)
From an Ethics of Belief to an Ethics of Teaching – Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain Seminar Series, University of Birmingham (15 May 2018)

Organised and Convened Symposia

Educating Responsible Believers – Symposium, European Seminars in Philosophy of Education, University of Humanistic Studies, Utrecht, the Netherlands (4 July 2025)
Obligations, Opportunities and Obstacles: Education’s Role in Cultivating Open-Mindedness – Symposium, Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain Annual Conference, New College, Oxford (23 Mar 2024)
Teaching for Belief and the Beliefs of the Teacher – Symposium, North American Association for Philosophy of Education Annual Conference, University of the Lake, Mundelein, Illinois (27-29 Oct 2023)
Teaching for Belief and the Beliefs of the Teacher – Symposium, Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain Annual Conference (3-5 Sep 2021)